Leather-splitting machine



(No Model.)

y N. LBIDGBN. LEATHER SPLITTING MACHINE.

N0. 554,783, Patented Feb. 18, 1896.

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NICOLAUS LEIDGEN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

LEATHER-SPLITTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,783, dated February18, 1896. Application iiled vApril 17, 1895. Serial No. 546,011. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NrcoLAUs LEIDGEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State ofWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Leather-Splitting Machines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to leather-splitting machines, and it has for itsobj ect to provide simple, efcient, and quickly-operatin g means forrevolving the drawing-roller in a direction to roll up the leatherthereon while being split and afterward reversing the direction ofrotation of the roller, so as to unwind the split leather therefrom.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as mayhereinafter appear, the invention consists in the construction and alsoin the combination of parts hereinafter particularly described and thensought to be specifically defined by the claims, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and in which- Figure 1is a perspective of a leather-splitting machine of the usualconstruction in its several parts, except where it embodies myinvention. Fig. 2 is a detail view, on an enlarged scale, with partsbroken away and in section, showing the features of my invention appliedto the machine. Fig. 3 is a detail view looking from the left of Fig. 1,showing certain parts of the invention. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectionon the line 4 4 of Fig. 2, showing the friction-disk, however, in fulllines; and Fig. 5 is a detail view of the bearing for one end of thedriving and frictiondisk shaft, partly in section.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the frame of an ordinarysplitting-machine sustaining at its upper ends in the brackets 2 theordinary adjustable and rotatable beam 3, which carries the usualgaging-roller 4 above the splitting-knives arranged in the usual manner,and iii-front of which is the drawing-roller v5 of usual construction,but provided at its end with the friction-Wheel 6, which constitutes oneelement used in connection with my invention.

The friction-wheel 6 is form ed with an outer rim, 7, and an inner rim,S, and in the space 9 between these two ends lies a friction-disk 10,made of leather, paper, or other suitable material, and which in itsnormal position lies centrally between the two rims 7 and 8 so as not tobe in contact with either. The disk l() has preferably a iiange 11, butthe iiange is not absolutely essential. The disk 10 is secured to oneend of the driving-shaft 12, which is journaled at one end, say at theend where the driving-pulley (not shown) will be attached to it, in asuitable two-part box 13, the lower part of which has a stud or boss 14,which iits into a socket 15 formed in a transverse bar 16, supported byclips or otherwise from one end of the machine-frame. This bearing orbox 13 is held in place by a bolt 17, which passes through a washer 13and an opening 19 formed in the transverse bar 16, the opening 19 beingof such size as to permit the bolt to have lateral play therein, so thatthe box or bearing 13 will have practically a ball-and-socket connectionwith the b ar 16, thus allowing the proper movement of the friction-diskend of the shaft 12 in the working of this invention.

. It will be observed that the inner face of the washer 13 is concaveand that the portion of the bar 16 against which it bears has a convexsurface, so as to permit the easy movement of the box or bearing 13. Thefriction-disk end of the shaft 12 is j ournaled in a suitable box orbearing which will have such a movement as will permit the friction-diskeasily to be thrown into engagement with either the outer or the innerrim to the friction-wheel, as desired. The preferred construction ofthis movable box or bearing, which is designated by the numeral 20, isillustrated clearly in Fig. 4 of the drawings, and

may be a sleeve, such as illustrated in that gure, and having projectingfrom one side one or more ears 21, which will be hinged by a bolt 22 toa bracket 23, which may be made to conform to the shape of the ironconstituting one of the sides of the frame 1 and be secured thereto byclip-bolts 24, all as clearly illus- IOO trated in Fig. 4 of'thedrawings. This mode of supporting the box or bearing 2O permits thelatter to swing so as to bring the frictiondisk into Contact with eitherof the rims 7 and S, according as it is desired to turn the drawing-rollerin one direction or the other. From one side of the bearing orbox 2O projects an arm 25, so that the same can be connected by suitablemeans to a foot-pedal in such manner that by operating the pedal thefrictiondisk 10 can be thrown against either rim 7 or S at will. As asuitable connecting means I have illustrated a turnbuckle device 2G connected at one end to the arm 25 by a thumbnut 27 or otherwise and at itslower end to a crank-pin 2S, which may project from a disk 29, securedto one journal of the foot-pedal 30, and so loca-ted or positioned thatwhen the foot-pedal is depressed in the direction indicated by arrows inFigs. l and l the frictiondisk 10 will be drawn down into contact withthe outer rim, 7 of the friction-wheel (i, and said wheel be caused torotate in the direction indicated by the full arrow in Fig. 1 of thedrawings, thus drawing the leather through the machine and winding itupon the drawing-roller 5. Then it is desired to reverse the rotation ofthe drawing-roller so as to unwind the leather, the toe of the operatorwill be placed under the front edge of the footpedal 30 and the latterpressed upward, so that through the crank-pin and the turnbuckle devicethe friction-disk will be thrown up against the inner rim, 8, of thefriction-wheel, and thus cause that wheel to turn in the directionindicated by dotted arrows in Fig. l, and thus unwind the leather fromthe drawing-roller.

The foot-pedal 30 is suitably journaled in the two standards 31, whichare connected together by the shelf or bar 32, and a spring isillustrated as connected at one end to the pedal 30 and at the other endto a bracket 34,which may be supported on the shelf or bar 32, thespring being connected to the bracket by a hook or bolt 35 and a nut 3G,by means of which the tension of the spring can be regulated. 'lhisspring sustains the foot-pedal in such position that the friction-disk10, by reason of its connections with said foot-pedal, will be normallyheld centrally between the two rims 7 and 8 of the friction-wheel andout of contact with both of them. By a slight depression of thefoot-lever 30 the frictiondisk will be thrown in contact with one rim,and as soon as the pressure is taken off the footlever the spring willrestore the friction-disk to its normal position. When the foot-lever isslightly raised to throw the friction disk into contact with the outerrim of the frictionwheel the friction-disk, after the pressure is takenoif, will drop by gravity to its normal position and the spring 33 willprevent the foot-pedal from dropping so low that the friction-disk wouldbe thrown into contact with the outer rim of the friction-wheel. It willthus be seen that these parts are rendered very prompt and sensitive intheir direction, and while I prefer to use such particular constructionand arrangement of parts still it is obvious that changes can be madetherein without departing from the essential features of my inventionconsidered in their most comprehensive scope.. The same is true of otherparts of the structure entering into the invention.

Having described my invention and set forth its merits, what I claimisl. In a leather-splitting machine, the combination with thedrawing-roller, of a frictionwheel having two peripheries or rims, a driving-shaft having a friction-disk pivotally sustained out of contactwith both of said peripheries or rims, and means for throwing said.friction-disk into contact at will with either of said peripheries orrims for rotating the drawin g-roller in either direction desired,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a leather-splitting machine, the combination with thedrawing-roller, of a frictionwheel having two peripheries or rims, adriving-shaft having a friction-disk pivotally sustained out of contactwith both of said peripheries or rims, means for throwing saidfriction-disk into contact at will with either of said peripheries orrims for rotating the drawing-roller in either direction desired, andmeans for automatically restoring the friction-disk out of contact withboth rims of the friction-wheel, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

In a leather-splittin g machine the combination with the drawing-roller,of a frictionwheel having two peripheries or rims, a driving-shaftsupported in bearings permitting lateral movement of the shaft, afriction-disk at one end of said shaft and normally standing between thetwo peripheries of the friction-wheel, and means for throwing said diskinto engagement with either of the peripheries or rims of thefriction-wheel for the purpose of revolving the drawing-roller in eitherdirection as desired, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. In a leather-splittin g machine, the combination with the drawing-roller, of the frictionwheel havingtwo peripheries or rims, thedriving-shaft adapted to have lateral play and provided at one end witha friction-disk normally out of engagement with both of the peripheriesor rims of the friction-wheel, an operating pedal or lever, lneansconnecting said lever with said driving-shaft for throwing thefriction-disk into engagement with either of the peripheries or rims ofthe friction-wheel desired, and a spring for normally holding thefriction-disk between the two peripheries or rims of the friction-wheel,substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. In a leather-splittin g machine, the combination of thefriction-wheel having two peripheries or rims7 the driving-shaft havinga lateral play and provided with a friction-disk `between the twoperipheries or rims of the IOO IIO

friction-wheel, the swinging journal bearing or box for thefriction-disk end of the driving-shaft, the operating pedal or lever,means connecting said pedal or lever and swinging box or bearing, andmeans for normally maintaining the friction-disk out of contact with thetwo peripheries or rims of the frictionwheel, substantially as and forthe purposes described.

6. In aleather-splitting machine, the combination of the friction-wheelhaving two peripheries or rims, the driving-shaft having a lateral playand provided with a friction-disk lying between the two peripheries orrims of the friction-wheel, the Swingin g journal bearing or box for thefriction end of the drivingshaft, the operating pedal or lever, meansconnecting said pedal or lever with the swin ging box or bearing for thedriving-shaft, and a spring for maintaining the friction-disk centrallybetween the two peripheries or rims of the friction-wheel and forrestoring the foot pedal or lever to its normal position when movedtherefrom, substantially as and for the purposes described.

7. In aleather-splitting machine, the combination with thedrawing-roller, of the frictionwheel having the two peripheries or rims,the driving-shaft journaled at one end in a box or bearing having auniversal movement and provided at the other end with a friction-disklying between the two peripheries or rims of the friction-wheel, aswinging box or bearing supporting the friction end of the drivingshaft,an operating pedal or lever, means connecting said pedal or lever withthe swinging box or bearing, and means for maintaining thefriction-disknormally out of contact with the two peripheries or rims ofthe friction-wheel, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NrooLAUs LEIDGEN. y

Wvitnesses H. J. RIEMENSCHNEIDER, FAURTIN PRINZ.

